Natalie MacMaster

The music of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, which has very deep roots in Scotland, has long been recognized as one of Canada's, and even North America's, most distinct regional musics. Nonetheless, even the island's most adept traditional musicians have seldom achieved much recognition beyond the region. That mostly changed in the 1990s with the arrival of a couple of dazzling young fiddlers. Ashley MacIsaac and his cousin Natalie MacMaster drew attention to the area's music like never before. MacMaster, the niece of master fiddler Buddy MacMaster, brought a new excitement to the genre and, in the process, became a star in the world of fiddling music and brought attention to the whole genre. To her credit, MacMaster also pushed the boundaries of Cape Breton music and picked up young followers while still holding on to her more conservative fans. In fact, she seems to alterrnate between traditional and contemporary albums but does so without pandering to a specific group of music lovers.

After a couple of releases that launched her recording career on a local basis, MacMaster came out with Fit As a Fiddle, a 1992 North American release that won her an East Coast Music Award, the first of many. Other ECMA Awards that ended up on her mantle include Instrumental Artist of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, and Roots/Traditional Artist of the Year. She also won a few Canadian Country Music Awards and a couple of Juno Awards, not to mention that her album from 2000, My Roots Are Showing, was nominated for a Grammy. A good number of her albums have gone gold in Canada, which means sales of 50,000 or more, an unusual feat for a fiddler.

Several factors explain MacIsaac's popularity. A traditional fiddler doesn't become that famous regardless of how impressive the technique. MacMaster also distinguishes herself by her pleasant personality, her step-dancing skills, and the energy and creativity she brings to her work. Her In My Hands album, for example, introduced elements of Latin music and jazz to the Cape Breton sound, and also featured such guests as Allison Krauss to boot. Her Blueprint album, which was produced by Darrol Anger, features an all-star cast of bluegrass musicians, including Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Sam Bush, and Jerry Douglas. Traces of world music, techno, and rock can be heard in some of her recordings. Her marriage to Donnell Leahy, the lead fiddler of well-known Canadian family band Leahy, is expected to produce interesting musical collaborations in the future.—Paul-Emile Comeau